Swing reveals its dark heart
Hammer studios are once again producing films, Tim Burton’s more in demand than ever, and the Diablo Swing Orchestra return with their second album; the world is slowly returning to it’s true gothic heart. Firstly, yes, we are talking about a true swing band here. And they keep their swing roots when exploring a myriad other genres, rather than being yet another mainstream band with a gimmick. Imagine going out for a night drinking in European taverns with Danny Elfman when he suddenly hijacks the local band and decides to write a soundtrack for the evening with the help of Keith Emerson and Nightwish. They sound something like that. Except it’s not that simple (it never is).
The long and involved ‘Lucy Fears the Morning Star’ is a bizarre metal tinged folk stomp, which descends into trumpet-led dance and creepy fx’d vocals. If the DSO wanted a futuristic take on their 15th century influences, they nailed it on this album with some very creative percussion and traditional orchestral sounds sitting side-by-side with subtle but impressive synths and guitars. The downright weird ‘Bedlam Sticks’ is a masterpiece of freaked-out words and voices, combined with unearthly wails but grounded by a steady constant beat. Sounding more like the band are having some kind of mass psychotic episode rather than a coherant song, it’s a piece of heavy-handed madness before the slow beginnings of ‘New World Widows’ and brief bar-room sway of ‘Siberian Love Affairs’.
This Swedish group show they’re more than one hit wonders or an idle curiousity after 2006/7’s ‘The Butcher’s Ballroom’. DSO still incorporate metal, opera, European folk, and prog rock into their eccentric sound, all to magnificent effect. From the twisted tango of ‘A Rancid Romance’ to the dark trad swing of ‘A Tapdancer’s Dilemma’, ‘No.2: Sing-Along Songs for the Damned and Delirious’ is a bombastic and vivid piece of art that takes the best parts of their chosen genres and creates something unnerving yet surreally beautiful. The quirky and unhinged vocals are something you’re either going to love or hate, from Ann-Louice Lögdlund’s powerful operatic wailing to the mad discourse of Daniel Håkansson.
They sound like nothing else on (or indeed under) this earth.